If This Ain't Love
by Quintar
Summary: "Sometimes I worry about Finn. I mean, how damaged does a guy have to be to be into someone as annoying as Rachel?" - Quinn Fabray.


Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the characters.

* * *

What is it about her, anyway?

Quinn Fabray doesn't get it at _all_.

As soon as she sees them alone in the choir room (and is it completely necessary to stand that close when you're singing), she falters slightly in front of the door, and takes a step back out of their direct line of sight.

Finn's grin is goofy – he hasn't looked at her like that in weeks, by the way - and he probably thinks he's being all charming and smooth, but really he just looks like a moron and she's not sure why she never saw it before now. Berry doesn't seem to mind, though; she beams a huge smile his way and continues belting out a love song to_ her_ own boyfriend.

She rolls her eyes in exasperation.

God.

It's so painfully pathetic to watch.

She feels dirty – and maybe a little absurdly curious – just witnessing it.

And she's pretty sure Jesus would not approve of this obnoxious display of teenage lust.

Santana's hand comes to rest gently on her shoulder, though Quinn doesn't react outwardly. They watch in silence for a beat, and then, "The hell? Q… Is Rupaul for real serenading your boy right now?"

"Yeah," Quinn sighs, resigned.

"And you're just watching?"

"I'm composing myself," she says, voice tight and clipped.

"Well, your man's about to compose_ him_self right into Berry's hideous pantsuit." Santana moves from behind Quinn to stand at her side.

Their hands fall to their hips at the same time.

"This is ridiculous. That's _my_ Quarterback." And her eventual shot at Prom Queen. She hip checks Santana softly, suddenly remembering something. "You like girls, right?"

She's never actually acknowledged it out loud before and she feels more than sees Santana abruptly tensing behind her.

"No," Santana says firmly, checking the corridor to see if anyone heard. They didn't, but her glare doesn't diminish.

"Sorry," she says, not sounding very sorry at all, but rephrasing anyway. "I just meant that maybe you wouldn't be entirely opposed to alternative lifestyle choices."

"Your point?" Her narrowed eyes widen dramatically. "I am not hitting up Manhands just because you can't keep your toys in line."

"No! It's just… I mean, look at her." They both tilt their heads in consideration. Her hands are on Finn's chest and her face is screwed up, voice dripping with fake emotion. The girl looks so insane right now and the crazy eyes are definitely not working for her. Quinn thinks that Santana's expression of extreme distaste is probably mirrored on her own face. "Puckerman, Finn… that little Jewish hairball that keeps waving a microphone in my face. What the hell is it about Berry that makes guys lose their minds?"

It's freaking infuriating that Quinn has spent so much time and money first on researching and then creating the perfect woman, and she's _still_ over shadowed by a possible transvestite with monkeys on her socks.

The boys at this school were totally lame.

And Rachel Berry was totally gross.

"I have no idea," Santana says, shaking her head slowly.

Judging by her tone, Quinn thinks this is the first time in forever that Santana Lopez has ever agreed with her so strongly about something.

At least there's one person by her side who's not sipping the Kool-Aid.

* * *

During an impromptu PowerPoint presentation that she stopped listening to once the words 'PowerPoint' and 'presentation' were used, Quinn pulls out a notebook from her bag, writing quickly -

_Things about Rachel Berry that maybe don't suck:_

- and nudges Santana.

Santana's eyes flick to the page, then up to Quinn's face, and she shrugs. "Her inevitable return to the Shire will leave more solos for the rest of us?"

Quinn scowls. This is way harder than it looks!

She studies Rachel from across the room, attempting to think like a post-pubescent boy.

Her own reaction comes quickly - instant irritation - but she squashes it down to try and let a different perspective in.

Okay, she can do this.

Quinn takes a deep breath -

Seventeen different insults immediately spring to mind.

The girl is stupidly short, has two gay dads, gender identity issues and is currently dressed like a blueberry.

She can't work with this!

She sighs. "We just need to look at it objectively, that's all. Like… try to pretend that you've never seen her before in your life. She's not Manhands, she's just some girl-thing with a thoroughly objectionable fashion sense."

"And how exactly do you suggest I do that when her squawking is invading all of my senses? And I'm trying not to look, but she's like… bright blue." She waves a dismissive hand in Rachel's direction. "She is literally making me want to scratch my eyes out."

"Yeah, me too." Quinn agrees absently, tapping her pen loudly against the pages of the notebook, and racking her brain. "Oh!" she says loudly, and when Rachel stops talking to turn at the sound, she glares her into submission. The brunette glares back briefly, but starts up her presentation again anyway. "She's good at singing, right?"

"Well, yeah." Santana frowns. "Look around, Q. We all are."

"Yeah, I know, but I mean, she's like… really good. Like, can do this for a living, good."

"If you say so."

"I do," Quinn says, happy to have at least one thing to write down.

_Singing._

So there's that.

But that can't be the only thing that Finn likes because Quinn can sing, too.

Is she supposed to look all crazy and squint up at him in adoration when she does it?

Because that probably wouldn't be happening.

There's definitely something that's she's missing.

She narrows her eyes at the girl, hoping it will come to her.

Those socks still have monkeys on them!

Words like _abomination_ get thrown around a lot at her church. She's starting to see why.

"Oh, I got one." Santana says quietly, waiting to continue until Quinn lifts her pen, ready to write. "I'm pretty sure she inherited Bag End, so she's like cash money now."

Her hand drops to the table. "I don't know what that means."

"It means that you should head to the library after school and pick up a copy of Lord of the Rings because there's just so much ammo in there! Crack a book sometime, geez. But it also means she's short and annoying, for sure, but she's got a couple of things that make all the boys want in them panties."

Quinn feels the rush of annoyance seep through her - like, hello, if Santana's got all the gay answers why didn't she just say so in the first place. "Which would be what, exactly?"

"Boobs. And girl parts… Probably. The jury's still out on that one, I don't know. And an itch to be noticed that borders on desperation. Some of which you're reeking of right now." She reaches over, gently taking the pen from Quinn's hand, and closing the notebook. "Come on, Quinn. You're hot as hell and everyone wants under that skirt, but your crazy is showing right now and that's all kinds of unattractive."

It might very well be the nicest thing Santana's ever said to her.

Quinn's gaze travels over to Finn, who's staring at Rachel with his face scrunched up, trying to look he's paying attention and failing. She's seen that expression before. Sometimes when she makes him pray, he looks exactly like that. "I just don't get it, that's all."

Santana nods her head in Rachel's direction before cupping her hands under her chest with a leer.

After some consideration she opens the notebook again and carefully writes _boobs_.

Just in case.

* * *

The worst thing about Berry being on her radar was that Berry really was actually on her radar, which meant that Quinn was starting to notice things she hadn't ever paid any attention to before.

The girl got slushied, like, _a lot_.

It was pretty funny.

Okay so maybe she and Santana had inadvertently on purpose put Rachel's name on the list back in freshman year after taking one look at her knee highs. It hadn't ever really occurred to her until now that it was still a daily ritual.

It also meant that she was subjected to Berry's demented definition of appropriate school wear, which made Quinn want to immediately set the girl's entire wardrobe collection on fire for the sake of the collective student body. And her eyes.

And _finally_, it meant that she noticed sometimes when she was (subtly) looking at Berry… Berry was (subtly) looking at her.

This kind of creeped her out and made her re-think the whole thing. It was pretty much ridiculous to begin with and even Santana thought so.

So the investigation was pending until further notice. Over the past week or so Quinn had come to the inevitable conclusion that Rachel Berry was on the bottom tier of the social hierarchy, a fashion disaster and an all-round general creeper.

Nothing she hadn't known about before.

* * *

"My fellow Glee-clubbers, it has recently come to my attention-"

Quinn rolls her eyes and tunes the other girl out. It's not like she hasn't paid enough attention to Manhands for one lifetime.

She shifts herself onto Finn's lap, slinging her arms over his neck seductively. "You should come over tonight," she murmurs, pressing her lips to his jawline. "My parents are out and-"

He places his hand on her bicep, halting her progress. "Quinn, come on. Rachel's talking."

"And?" She laughs, pulling back, but there's no trace of a smile. She pauses in disbelief. "You're not serious?"

"Yeah, I don't wanna get in trouble." He looks uncomfortable and refuses to meet her eyes.

There's the familiar flash of irritation that comes with anything having to do with Rachel.

She removes herself from his lap, her tone low and furious. "You're a moron. She's _always_ talking! And you're not going to get in trouble. _God_! Berry doesn't run this thing, she just has an over-inflated ego and Mr Schue has sub-par time-keeping skills."

"Quinn." He looks pained.

She stalks to the other side of the room, dropping angrily into an empty seat next to Santana and Brittany.

"Trouble in paradise?" Santana asks, her voice filled with amusement. "What? You're still not letting him hit that?" She snorts quietly to herself. "Of course you're not."

She decides to ignore that. "I'm officially done with high school boys. I'm over it."

"Hey, I'm with you, but if you guys break up you know whose bed he's running to," Santana points out.

The thought stops her cold. "Oh, yeah."

"Is it ours?" Brittany asks.

"No, B." Santana glances over at Brittany before pointing out Rachel. "It's the obnoxious dwarf monkey."

"But you said that she was just predator bait." Brittany looks confused. "If Chris Hansen shows up, do you think Finn will be out of jail in time for graduation?"

Santana snorts again.

Quinn hesitates for a moment, torn between the thought of Finn and Rachel together and looking weak in front of Santana, but Berry's stopped yammering (finally!) and seeing her headed in Finn's direction has Quinn up and moving back across the room without a second thought.

The girl is about to sit in _her_ seat next to _her_ boyfriend and she's probably going to hit on him or ask him to sing gagging sweet duets or something, which is vomit-inducing at the absolute best of times and not at all appropriate for now when she actually might explode from pure rage alone.

Rachel reaches the chair, but Quinn's still a fraction of a second faster, sliding back in next to Finn and wrapping one of his arms protectively around her shoulder in a quick, accomplished move that even Sue Sylvester couldn't criticize. Probably.

Finn looks pleased, if a little nervous, and Rachel halts, surprised, before quietly taking the seat next to her at the end of the row.

Like that was any better.

Still, she feels smug enough to let his hand tighten around her waist without much protest and when it slides down her side tentatively, like it's going to be slapped away any second, she pretends not to notice until a few minutes later when a thumb is gently stroking the outside of her thigh.

She keeps the eye roll to herself and _is_ about to slap it away… until she notices Berry noticing.

Her raised palm changes course to rest gently on the back of Finn's hand. He stills immediately, but Quinn's just lacing their fingers together and shifting his hand until it's under her skirt making it ride up a little.

She crosses one leg over the other in attempt to hide his movements from the rest of the Glee club, from everyone except for-

Berry's hand flies to shield her face and she whips her head to stare at the wall so fast Quinn almost laughs. Almost but doesn't, because a moment later Berry's looking at her leg again out of the corner of her eye and Quinn's looking back, and when she's guiding his hand to the inside of her thigh, just outside of her spanks and Rachel's eyes meet hers at the same time - she doesn't mean to, but that doesn't really stop her hips from rolling or the soft moan that comes out of her mouth.  
It's little more than an audible gasp, quiet enough that only the three of them probably heard anything at all, but Finn still rips his hand away and Rachel's eyes widen as she flushes and Quinn's –- wow –- a little turned on.

Finn is too, because he reaches for a folder and places it over his lap.

She wonders if Berry's turned on for one brief moment of stupidity, then she remembers that she doesn't care at all.

Still, later, when she's taking Finn's hand and they're walking out of the room, Quinn raises an inquisitive eyebrow in her direction making her fumble all of her books in a way that pure intimidation never had, and yeah.

She probably has her answer.

* * *

"Quinn, that wasn't okay," Finn says, sounding angry.

She pauses at her locker, holding back her sneer and settling for unamused detachment. "What are you going on about this time?"

"You were trying to make Rachel jealous and I don't want to be caught in the middle of it."

"_Why_ would I be trying to make Rupaul jealous? You're my boyfriend and I have nothing to worry about, right?" Her voice is hard and sharp until right at the end, when it's not.

Finn's eyes soften and he takes her hand. He's surprisingly perceptive sometimes. "You're right; you have nothing to worry about. I love you, okay? You're the coolest girl I know." He pulls her into his arms and presses his lips to her forehead. She feels her insecurities melting away, and presses tightly against his chest in a moment of tenderness. "It's just… Rachel's kind of cool too, and I wish you would give her a chance. She's really not that bad once you get to know her."

Moment over.

She stiffens in his arms. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Because she's not a bad person!" He lets her go. Quinn shoves her books into her locker blindly, slamming the door closed. It swings back open. "Because I need you to trust me when I tell you that nothing's going on!"

"I trust you, Finn. I just don't trust her."

"Quinn, come on. She's actually all right once you know her and I just want you guys to be friends."

"Yeah, whatever," she agrees, tiring of the conversation. "Are you still coming over tonight?"

"I don't know. I need some time to think," he says, walking away from her.

When he's gone she slams her locker door violently closed again, just because.

It doesn't stay closed this time, either.

* * *

It's been two days since Finn has spoken to her directly, even though they've seen each other on the field _and_ had Glee together once. He didn't come crawling back to her at all!

So just… whatever.

This is all Rachel Berry's fault and it's all Quinn can do to keep from beating her to death and shipping the body off to Israel. The only thing stopping her is that it actually sounded very time-consuming and she would really rather not.

This whole thing is stupid. It's taking its toll and she's tired of fighting with Finn and she didn't sleep much last night, and she's tired of watching her back around Stubbles, even though why she has to is still anybody's guess. It's been over a week and she's only come up with a grand total of two possible things that anyone could maybe like about the little troll, and one of those things was really just her being generous in a moment of weakness.

Who could even tell if Berry had nice boobs when they were hidden under sweaters with goats on them?

So her plan is to go play nice and Finn will get over this - _whatever_ the hell he has for Berry and everything will go back to normal.

"Trans-Am," she greets amicably, leaning next to her locker.

"Quinn!" Rachel spins to face her, startled, and it only brings Quinn minimal satisfaction. She looks both scared and pleased; like she's not sure which reaction is entirely appropriate. "Good morning! I have the sheet music for Glee if that's why you're here-"

"It's not."

Rachel continues as if she hadn't spoken. "-and I think that it's important that we work on your timing issues this afternoon because you were about a half second off with the-"

"Stop talking," Quinn commands, slamming her palm flat against the locker next to Rachel's head. All plans for exchanging niceties flying out of her head at Berry's rambling.

Rachel's mouth closes abruptly.

She recovers quickly and leans forward conspiratorially. "Is this about the other day?"

Quinn is taken back - because wow, could the girl have less tact? - but only for a moment. She cocks an eyebrow. "Yeah, I noticed that you liked that."

Rachel blushes. "No! I just… I find that it's important in the growth of individuals facing high school to have a healthy sexual outlet. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I'm just not entirely sure that Glee is the appropriate place for such activities, privacy is somewhat of a concern and we really do need to be focused for–-"

"And what would you know about sexual outlets, Berry?" Quinn smiles humorlessly, leaning closer, keeping one hand next to Rachel's head and moving her other to a shoulder to keep her in place.

"I'm quite well-versed in-"

Quinn's bored already. "Yeah, okay, you read some pamphlets, good for you. Anyway, I'm having this problem and I was hoping that you could help me out."

Rachel practically _beams_ at her. "Of course! What did you need help with?"

"There's this girl," Quinn pauses for a dramatic effect that she thinks Rachel will appreciate. The girl in question nods eagerly. "She's super annoying and I'm not sure how to deal with it."

Rachel frowns. "Have you confronted her with your issues?"

"Working on it, Stubbles."

"Well, I really think that an open line of communication is necessary in this instance because when issues fester-"

"So you think that I should just straight up tell her that she sucks and to stay away from Finn?" She tightens her grip on Rachel's shoulder, bunching some goat-sweater material in the process. Just to drive the point home.

Rachel tenses. "From Finn?"

"Yeah, Berry. She's like, all over him and I get that he's the quarterback of this school and crazy hot to boot, but she just. Won't. Back. Off. You know what I'm saying?" Quinn leans a little closer threateningly. Rachel's eyes are wide and honest – and filled with trace amounts of fear that Quinn is very much enjoying. "So I'm really not sure what the best way to go about this is."

Rachel takes a deep breath, catching on. She tries to create some distance, but between the locker and Quinn herself, there's really nowhere to go. She clears her throat. "And you haven't spoken to her?"

Quinn hums dismissively, not at all betraying the heart pounding heavily in her chest. "I wasn't sure if the intimidation route would work this time."

"That's um… what do you think would work?" Rachel asks with a shaky voice.

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. So tell me, Berry." Her body language shifts unintentionally, relaxing a little. Her voice drops low and seductive, but no less threatening. It feels familiar and comfortable and gives her the upper hand. "What would work?"

There's a line of thought that manages to permeate her infuriated brain – Rachel smells kind of nice – and she takes note of it to write it down later before remembering that she's not doing that anymore.

"_Quinn_!"

She jerks back at the sound.

"What?"

"What're you doing?" Finn asks. It's the first time he's spoken to her in days and he sounds less than pleased.

God, what was she doing?

"I'm talking, what's it look like?" she asks pushing herself off the locker, off Rachel, immediately.

He looks hurt. "I thought I asked you not to do this."

"Finn, really, it's okay," Rachel tries to placate him. "We were just talking."

"Yeah, Finn," Quinn mocks, annoyed by Rachel taking her side and Finn obviously not. "We were just talking."

Rachel glares at her. "Quinn had a problem, she was asking for my help."

Finn looks skeptical. "Really?"

"I did have a problem actually, but I think we sorted it out, right Berry?"

It's Rachel's turn to look skeptical, but she mutters, "Right."

"See? We're all good here." She takes Finn's arm and he doesn't shrug her off, which she considers progress. "Let's go."

He doesn't move. "Rach, are you okay?" he asks gently.

The urge to roll her eyes is definitely there, but she holds onto his arm anyway looking at Rachel expectantly. Because maybe she had forgotten that she was supposed to be nice and had pretty much failed the second the other girl opened her mouth. It's not like it was her fault Berry was so annoying. And maybe her chest was tight with anxiety and Rachel looked kind of shaken up, too.

Not that she cared about that so much, but she was trying to make things better, not worse.

"I'm fine," Rachel assures him, not looking at Quinn.

"Okay well, good." Quinn sighs in relief. "Good talk, Berry. Let's go, Finn."

He throws one last unsure look over his shoulder before she finally manages to pull him away.

* * *

"So what were you guys talking about?" Finn asks once they're seated in the lunch room.

"Girl stuff," she says flippantly.

"Quinn," he warns.

She takes note of Santana and Puck headed in their general direction and indicates them with a nod of her head. "Can we talk about this later?"

He sighs. "Quinn, look, Rachel's important to me and if you can't respect that, then I don't know if this is going to-"

"Are you even serious, right now?" she cuts him off, dropping her voice to a forced whisper. "We are not talking about this."

"Well, maybe we should!"

"You are not breaking up with me for that_ thing_!"

"I'm not! And don't call her that. It's just-"

"Whoa, feeling the tension," Puck says lightly, dropping into the seat next to her as he slings an arm around her shoulders. She shrugs it off, annoyed. "What's going on?"

Quinn bites back an immediate retort that has her dumping Finn in a fit of hysterical rage and retreats into her own head with a deep breath. He's the All-American High School Quarterback. He's a for real nice guy. He's going to make her Prom Queen one day. He makes her smile sometimes, and if she leaves him he'll run to Rachel Berry and she'll be all alone and seeing them together will make her puke all over her Cherrios uniform and Coach Sylvester will kick her off the squad and everything she's worked so hard for will all have been for nothing.

No.

Just… no.

"Nothing." She forces out a tight smile. "Bad day, that's all."

"Uh-huh," Puck says, not really caring. "I've got something that will cheer you guys up. Party at my place, Friday night?"

Santana grins.

Quinn exchanges a look with Finn and they both sigh unhappily. "We'll be there."

* * *

Things kind of went back to normal over the weekend. She let Finn touch her breast (over the bra) and he forgot all about being mad and she almost forgot that Berry even existed. Friday was spent drinking, dancing and making out. Saturday was spent nursing a hangover and making out, while Sunday was reserved for church… and making out. So by Monday Quinn was actually in a pretty good mood after practice and she even let the team go early, staying behind to take some equipment back to the locker room.

Her good mood was sure to last indefinitely.

Until she rounded the corner and the single most annoying person currently frequenting the high school was standing right in front of her looking just as surprised as she felt.

Quinn stops short, dropping a couple of pom-poms in the process. "Are you_ lost_, Rupaul?"

"Uh, hi!" Rachel bends down to pick some of them up.

Quinn slaps her hands away to do it herself. "Why are you creeping around the locker rooms?"

Berry bristles. "I was not," she leans closer and lowers her voice, scandalized, "creeping. I was merely-"

"I know what you were doing," Quinn snaps. "And he's not here."

Rachel looks confused. "Who's not?"

"That is it!" Quinn loses the last of her composure, feels the surge of adrenaline pounding hot waves of anger through her bloodstream. She resists the urge to roll up her sleeves. She doesn't even have sleeves. There's no one around to stop her from lunging at the other girl. So she does. "We're about to throw down."

Rachel's eyes widen in surprise.

She leaves the pom poms discarded, grabbing Rachel by the shoulders and dragging her inside the empty locker room, slamming her into the nearest wall. Rachel gasps, expelling the air in her lungs.

"I've tried to keep this beat down verbal, but you won't take a freaking hint." She doesn't think, really, that she's going to hit Rachel... But she can't be entirely sure that she's _not _going to hit Rachel either. All she knows is that the source of all of her current anger is standing right in front of her, and all Quinn can see is a white hot rage burning her up from the inside and Rachel Berry's face. "I've tried the nice way. I've tried the mean girl way. And now I'm going to try the ass-kicking way because Finn doesn't want you. He never wanted you. _No one_ wants you, Treasure Trail. This is getting way old, and I'm tired of you hanging off him like some kind of freaky appendage-"

"Oh!" Rachel looks like she's catching on and like she's more than a little relieved instead of hurt or scared. "No, Quinn, that's not… I was just…" She laughs slightly like the idea is ridiculous. "I was looking for you actually."

Quinn relaxes immediately, the tension leaking out of her arms. But then she remembers that this still isn't probably going anywhere good. "Well… don't." She adjusts her grip, but her hands are still pinning Rachel gently in place. "Go away."

"While I don't particularly enjoy confrontation, I did give this some serious consideration before I came down here and while the situation turning hostile was not a forgone conclusion there was a definite possibility, so I prepared myself for this as one of several likely outcomes. In any case, I still must insist that you unhand me-"

"Did you prepare for the outcome of me punching you in the face?" Quinn sneers.

"Yes," Rachel says seriously.

Quinn looks surprised and pulls back entirely, momentum gone. "Huh." She walks further into the room, tugging her Cheerios shirt over her head as she goes, tossing it onto the bench before opening her locker. "So fine, you're here and no one killed or maimed you. Congrats. What do you want?"

There's silence and when Quinn pulls back from her locker to check (she kind of assumes the girl took off running the second she turned her back) she instead sees her staring upward, a light flush creeping up her neck. Quinn frowns confused, and then looks down at herself in her skirt and sports bra, then back to Rachel and something clicks. "Berry, are you blushing?"

"No." The blush increases, furiously making its way across her cheeks, eyes still fixed firmly to the ceiling. "Of course not. Don't be absurd."

"Oh, my god!" She laughs, intrigued by the reaction, but still a little confused. "You totally are. Is this like, a tranny thing?"

"Quinn, I'm trying to have a discussion with you."

"So talk."

"I can't when you're like that."

"Like what?" she asks playfully, all trace amounts of anger dispelled in the moment.

"You're half-naked!"

Quinn laughs again because this whole situation is pretty much hilarious. She wishes with all her heart that Santana was here to witness this weird display. The girl is _such_ a spaz.

"Well, I'm about to get full naked because I'd like to take a shower sometime before graduation. So you can talk or you can leave."

When Rachel's mouth opens, Quinn braces herself for Berry-like paragraphs of the English language spewed in her direction, but nothing comes out. After a few seconds it closes again while Quinn watches on, bewildered.

In the ensuing silence, a couple more things snap firmly into place: Rachel's shaken reaction to her by the lockers. The way she watched Finn touching her, which Quinn had just automatically assumed was because of Finn, but Berry wasn't here looking for Finn, she was here looking for her. And she wasn't standing there blushing at Finn, she was standing there blushing at… All those times she watched Berry watching her over the last week...

And did she-? No, that was ridiculous. Her entire thought process was ridiculous because Rachel Berry was just a loser and nothing she ever did made any sense. She acted like a freak because she _was_ a freak.

Still, just in case, she asks, "Or… you could join me?" One part flirtation, two parts incredulous.

Rachel immediately stumbles, reaching for the wall and her subsequent attempts at stammering out human words tells her all she needs to know.

Quinn's eyes widen in confirmation as her smile fades. "Berry, get the hell out of here."

"Wait!" She finally meets Quinn's eyes and Quinn suddenly feels a lot more naked than before. She reaches for her towel, pulling it around her shoulders. "I uh, just wanted to say that I'm withdrawing my affections for Finn. While our chemistry is certainly undeniable, I feel that as an influential member of the Glee club it's imperative that we stick together as a group and we can't do that with all of this tension." She pulls herself up taller, looking more confident with every word that spills out of her mouth. "Also, I really think it's vital that you practice outside of Glee, developing perfect pitch may take years of training, but there's no time like the present to start. And perhaps some anger management classes wouldn't go astray."

Torrents of confused and angry retorts flood her consciousness, but given recent developments none of them make it past her lips. Instead she manages to force out, "Okay."

Rachel gives a sharp nod, and quietly echoes, "Okay."

Then she's gone and Quinn's left alone to wonder what just happened.


End file.
